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Cindy Sui

One of Asia’s largest philanthropic organisations, the Shaw Foundation, has pledged to continue supporting small charities in Hong Kong and urged the public to do the same, after making a generous donation to victims of last month’s catastrophic fire in Tai Po.
The foundation made a HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) contribution to help victims of the Wang Fuk Court fire, which broke out on November 26 and raged for 43 hours. The deadly fire killed at least 160 people, injured 79 others and displaced around 5,000.
Raymond Chan Wai-man, the foundation’s chairman, said he was encouraged to see the response from the community in the aftermath of the fire.
“In the past, we were often one of the first to provide support. We’ve set a leading example. Now, many organisations don’t wait for the government’s appeal; they respond immediately when disaster strikes. I’m happy to see this,” Chan said.
But while “everyone has done more, it’s never enough,” he stressed, adding that there are always more challenges that need to be addressed in society and lesser-known charities that still need support.
“We hope we can play a leading role. If we take the lead, society will pay more attention to them, so we hope to use our influence to support the charitable projects that might not get much public attention,” Chan said.
For the third year in a row, the foundation established by the late Hong Kong entertainment mogul, Sir Run Run Shaw, and later led by his wife, the late Mona Fong Yat-wah, will donate to Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual fundraising campaign set up by the Post and public broadcaster RTHK in 1988 to help local charities serve those in need.
Chan said OSC was a good partner because through the platform, the foundation “can get to know charities we haven’t come across before”.

Over the past two years of funding OSC-selected projects, Chan said his foundation had seen a positive impact.
“It’s a win-win situation. OSC finds good charities and we find good programmes to support them,” he said, adding that the impact has been positive.
A small charity the foundation has supported, Rugby For Good – also one of OSC’s beneficiaries this year – works with around 8,000 primary and secondary students in 120 schools each year. By teaching children from different ethnicities and backgrounds to play rugby, the charity inculcates life skills by allowing youngsters to interact and develop self-confidence through the sport.
In 2026, the foundation plans to allocate resources to community-based initiatives dealing with mental health problems, Chan revealed.
“Mental health is an important issue because many young people, due to their environment or the academic pressure they face, have emotional problems. We’ve often heard of students even committing suicide. I think it’s really important to pay attention to this, to prevent tragedies from happening,” Chan said.
Besides OSC-funded projects, the foundation has carried out philanthropic work on its own or with other partners, making contributions in Hong Kong, elsewhere in Asia and globally in six areas of focus: education, healthcare, scientific research, arts and culture, emergency relief and community support.
“Starting with my two bosses, the spirit of giving is deeply ingrained in every one of our employees,” Chan said, adding that he hoped the spirit of giving would have a ripple effect in the community.
“Society has many different needs or faces unfortunate events every day. We hope to spread the seed of charity and plant it in everyone’s heart,” Chan said.

He said that although Hong Kong and the rest of the world faced many challenges, the city would find solutions if residents stayed united and determined.
“You can see (from the Tai Po fire response) Hong Kong people care a lot about Hong Kong’s problems. As long as we work hard, I believe many of Hong Kong’s problems will be quickly resolved,” Chan said.
OSC has raised about HK$396 million for more than 365 charity projects and helped more than 100,000 people since its establishment.
In addition to its annual fundraising drive, the initiative is leading an emergency appeal to meet the specific needs of residents affected by the Tai Po fire.
All proceeds will support this year’s 13 OSC-funded charity projects and community partners involved in fire relief efforts in Tai Po.
Click here to learn more about how to donate to OSC.


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Major philanthropic organisation urges Hongkongers to support smaller, lesser-known charities


Major philanthropic organisation urges Hongkongers to support smaller, lesser-known charities.


Operation Santa Claus

Operation Santa Claus helps Hong Kong’s Shaw Foundation uplift smaller charities

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Major philanthropic organisation urges Hongkongers to support smaller, lesser-known charities

Major philanthropic organisation urges Hongkongers to support smaller, lesser-known charities